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cottonmama

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  1. We figured we'd need a shed for lawn mowers and garden things. The kids' bikes should fit in the extra depth. Most of the rest of the things in our current garage can go in the attic (Christmas decorations and the like) or in the larger pantry we will have. My biggest worry is just getting in and out of vehicles, so as long as that's good I think we can make it work.
  2. Thank you so much for measuring, Heather! Those are similar dimensions to what we'll be looking at, and your vehicles are comparable in size to ours. I also realized that our sedan almost never has anyone needing to get in on the passenger side, so if we parked it pretty close to the right wall that would allow more door opening space between vehicles and on the van's driver's side. I would have to have realistic storage expectations, but the depth would allow some of that along the back wall.
  3. Hmm. Parking in the driveway regularly isn't going to be an option because I teach violin lessons, and my students will need to park there. It'll be a double garage door, but I need to ask about the width.
  4. We're looking at a house that I really love, but the garage is much smaller than what we're used to (we live near enough to a lake that a lot of people have garages that will fit boats, and we ended up with one of those). The new garage would be 19'7" wide by 23'6" deep, and we would be parking our Honda Odyssey and our Toyota Corolla in there together. Can anyone speak to how well a van and a sedan will fit in this size garage? How frustrating is it going to be to park, to get in and out of vehicles, etc?
  5. The Tea Collection has its $15 and under sale going.
  6. I started putting "privilege" in quotes because I agree, by the time everyone has those advantages, privilege is no longer the right word. Maybe it would have been more precise for me to have said that the negative thing is the disparity, not the decent treatment and lack of systemic obstacles. The term "white privilege" seems to cast both sides of that in a negative light. I'm splitting hairs and that's probably frustrating. I'm sorry. I do feel that these nuances are at the heart of why the term tends to be more inflammatory than others. I'm really sorry about your dishwasher. :(
  7. Being treated respectfully and not having to overcome senseless obstacles on account of your race (or anything else) is a positive thing. It's the way everyone should be treated. The thing that is negative is the mistreatment, the systemic injustice. The term "white privilege" throws into confusion what we are even objecting to. It's the difference between saying that white people don't deserve to be treated decently, and saying that everyone deserves these things we are calling "privileges." Obviously the latter is what we all really want, but the term "white privilege" almost seems to disparage the decent treatment of whites. I feel like we can do better with our word choice, and make it clear that we are advocating "privilege" for all.
  8. Oh, I agree; it's a perfectly accurate term. Just maybe not so effective. The point is to have a productive dialog, not to be technically correct. So connotation matters, even if the term doesn't carry that connotation for people on one side of the dialog. The problem I see with the term is that it suggests that one person's advantages are standing in the way of other people having the same advantages. (That's a connotation thing, so while the term doesn't technically mean that, it carries with it unspoken meaning that muddies the discussion.) In reality, what is standing in the way is things like mistreatment and injustice and lack of understanding. I feel like this is where the focus ought to be. To be fair, I think "lack of understanding" is what people are trying to get at with the term "white privilege," but if you can get to that point of understanding more effectively without the term, why is the term a hill to die on?
  9. I think you don't worry about the subset of people who aren't going to "get it" whatever you call it. But maybe it's worth listening to the input of several of us -- right here on this board! ;) -- who say we agree with the concept but feel like the terminology misses the mark.
  10. I kind of agree. Ultimately I would prefer a term that suggests that a "privileged" experience -- where whatever vehicle you're driving, you have a safe and convenient lane to ride in -- that should be the default. To me "white privilege" suggests that the problem is that white people have things too good... when in reality the problem is that having it that good isn't universal. It's also hard to do anything about it when you're just looking at it from a privilege perspective. I'd rather talk about concrete injustices and what we can do to combat those. To me that seems much more actionable than the concept of privilege. Even the term "check your privilege" could be replaced by "put yourself in someone else's shoes" and would, I think, get across the idea people are going for much more effectively. Which is why analogy is such a useful tool for communicating these ideas. I think really the biggest hurdle is getting to the point where we understand each other's experiences.
  11. Cheddar Corn Chowder French Provencal Soup (I use an Amerca's Test Kitchen recipe that isn't online... but whatever recipe you go with, the pistou is what makes it!) Broccoli Cheese (can't find the recipe mine is based off of) Russian Mushroom and Potato Soup Cauliflower Soup
  12. Oh, absolutely. I am a frequent abandoner of projects myself. ;-) With a motivated gifted child I feel like it's easier to allow projects to be abandoned, because that comes after some meaningful learning has happened. With my oldest, though, those learning experiences won't ever actually happen without someone keeping her on task. I'm glad to hear that some amount of keeping them on task is "allowed" in PBH. I'm starting to think we could be at least as successful with that kind of project as we have been with scouting badges. Next year might look different than I had planned! I love the idea of the kanban board! I have been using tear-off strips like people post when they're looking for a roommate, for long-term school tasks and scouting badges. It has worked pretty well, but its real weakness is that it doesn't have a way to keep something "in-progress." Kanban boards should solve that, while also feeding my sticky note addiction. lol
  13. These are very helpful descriptions of what both of you have done. But how do you ensure that during project time they are working on their project, without prodding? Or how do you ensure that the project ever gets done, without prodding? That's the part I don't get. With my daughter, it seems like nothing gets done without prodding. Even in her free play, she doesn't necessarily stick to a game to the end, or to writing a story to the end, etc. Not that I have expectations for her in those cases, but it shows me that being completely hands-off with academics is not likely to produce satisfactory learning. As an example... this daughter has been working on scouting badges this year. She chooses what she wants to earn, but the scouting handbook defines what requirements the output must meet. At the mid-year ceremony she was terribly discouraged getting only one badge, so I started to set aside time regularly for badge work. Even though she has chosen what she wants to do, she takes almost zero initiative, and she needs frequent reminding to make sure she is indeed working on badges during badge time ... but in this case I have felt more free to prod because I'm not trying to meet some PBH ideal. :D
  14. This is going to be OT/PBH-related, but... I'm the sister. :D The part about my kids never taking the initiative was right. But I didn't do any of the work for them, and I didn't prod a bit -- I put out materials and offered support getting resources, just like the book said. I took notes on what my school-aged child was interested in. But... it didn't seem like it ever turned into much of a learning experience. My daughter expressed interest in cooking, but all she wanted to do was actually cook (fair enough!) -- but the thing was, she couldn't cook independently, so that was going to mean I needed to be constantly engaged in every moment of her project, and I had two other kids needing attention. To satisfy state laws given this reality, she needed some of her project work to happen outside of the kitchen. I put together a project space in the living room, but all that ever happened there was the kids gluing hair and faces on recyclables using the various other materials I gave them. They loved it, but it was lightweight school at best, and anyway we barely had room for the project things; the house was getting messy with nothing to show for it. I guess I just couldn't figure out how to ensure that learning was happen without forcing it on her. Since then I have found that my kids, at least at this age, are much more engaged and excited about learning when I provide more direction and structure. We talk about what they're interested in, or we agree on a topic to study together, and I take some time to find videos or books or hands-on activities to help them learn. I come up with research questions (and sometimes they come up with their own), and they look for the answers online or in our encyclopedias. That's not PBH, but it's what works for us. And I almost feel like with young kids, they don't know the questions to ask until they start to be exposed to the kinds of things that are out there to learn. I would still love to find a way to make PBH work. I feel like my kids would need to catch a vision for what they could do with it, and they would really take off. Quite possibly my middle child would run with it more than my oldest did. It's probably something we will come back to as they all get older.
  15. I don't do a lot of binge watching, but there are some shows I have watched more than once: Gilmore Girls Firefly Netflix Daredevil Season 1 If we're counting miniseries: BBC North and South BBC Wives and Daughters BBC Pride and Prejudice In progress the second time: Sherlock When Calls the Heart I could watch Galavant and Series of Unfortunate Events and The Crown and Daredevil Season 2 and IT Crowd again if I ran out of other things to watch.
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